General Information ENG 026:Introduction to Film Term: 2018 Summer Session Class Sessions Per Week: 5 Instructor: Staff Total Weeks: 4 Language of Instruction: English Total Class Sessions: 20 Classroom: TBA Class Session Length (minutes): 150 Office Hours: TBA Credit Hours: 4 Course Description: This course is an introduction to the aesthetics of film. We will study the elements that make up a film: documentary, avant-garde, genres, authorship, ideology, and representation. We will discuss how these elements interact with one another to constitute a whole system that generates meanings and other effects. Students will be introduced to the key aesthetic aspects of film by exploring a range of styles and genres, including narrative and non-fiction forms, and dominant and alternative styles. Course Materials: 1. In-class Handouts: There is no required text for this course; most readings and viewing assignments are in-class handouts. 2. Optional Texts: Film Art: An Introduction, David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, 11th edition. Course Format and Requirements: This course will be in the format of lecture, with film screening, in-class discussions and presentations. Course Outcomes: Deploy the basic language of film aesthetics. Recognize seminal events and people in film history. Recognize concepts in film theories. Understand how film works as an artistic, industrial, and cultural form. Communicate ideas about film culture through spoken and written analysis Attendance: Regularity in classroom attendance and punctuality is vital to academic success. After the 6th absence, the student s final grade will be reduced 5% for each successive absence. 1 Wuhan University
Course Assignments: 5 Quizzes Throughout the semester, students will have seven in-class quizzes. The formats include group work, mini-papers, multiple choices and True/False. Two lowest in-class writing grades of the semester will be dropped. In-class writing assignments cannot be made up. 2 Analysis Essays Each student must select two movies from all the film screening assignments listed in the class schedule. For each movie selected, you must watch the whole movie and write a 2-3 page paper on it. Papers must be double spaced and in 12 point standard font with one inch margins. You will submit papers electronically. Analysis essays make a specific argument about a scene, image, shot, cut, or other component of a film, a particular concept or technique from the reading, or a combination thereof. Essays should also communicate in the technical vocabulary of film production and analysis established in the reading assignments and lecture. Midterm Exam The midterm may contain identification, multiple choices, true or false, matching, and short answer. You will be tested on screenings, readings, and key concepts discussed in class. The midterm may include film stills and short clips. We will discuss the midterm in class the preceding week. Final Exam The final will be cumulative to allow you to demonstrate the breadth of knowledge you ve acquired throughout the semester. In addition to the variety of questions listed as possible for the midterm, the final will likely include a larger analysis component. We will review for the final on the last day of class. Course Assessment: Top 5 Quizzes 15% Analysis Essays 1 15% Analysis Essays 2 15% Midterm Exam 20% Final Exam 35% Total 100% Grading Scale (percentage): A+: 98-100 A: 93-97 A-: 90-92 B+: 88-89 2 Wuhan University
B: 83-87 B-: 80-82 C+: 78-79 C: 73-77 C-: 70-72 D+: 68-69 D: 63-67 D-:60-62 F: <60 Academic Integrity: Students are encouraged to study together, and to discuss lecture topics with one another, but all other work should be completed independently. Students are expected to adhere to the standards of academic honesty and integrity that are described in the Wuhan University s Academic Conduct Code. Any work suspected of violating the standards of the Academic Conduct Code will be reported to the Dean s Office. Penalties for violating the Academic Conduct Code may include dismissal from the program. All students have an individual responsibility to know and understand the provisions of the Academic Conduct Code. Special Needs or Assistance: Please contact the Administrative Office immediately if you have a learning disability, a medical issue, or any other type of problem that prevents professors from seeing you have learned the course material. Our goal is to help you learn, not to penalize you for issues which mask your learning. Course Schedule: Class 1: Introduction; Classical Hollywood Cinema; The Development of the Classical Hollywood Cinema Film Screening: The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941); Film Screening: Sherlock Jr. (Keaton, 1924) Class 2: Quiz 1 Film Form; The Classical Hollywood Cinema After the Coming of Sound; 3 Wuhan University
Film Screening: The Maltese Falcon (Del Ruth, 1931) Film Screening: Satan Met a Lady (Dieterle, 1936) Film Screening: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920) Class 3: Realism/Formalism Discussion Film History Discussion Film Screening: Ballet Mécanique (Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy, 1924) Film Screening: Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, 1929) Class 4: Quiz 2 Experimental Silent Film; German Expressionism; French Impressionism and Surrealism; Film Screening: Meshes of the Afternoon (Deren, 1943) Class 5: Film Screening: Citizen Kane (Wells, 1941) Narrative and Genre; Film Screening: Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) Class 6: Race in Classical Hollywood Cinema; Film Screening: Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942) Film Screening: The Conqueror (Powell, 1956) Class 7: Quiz 3 Mise-en-Scene; Film Screening: Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977) Genre Film/Horror; Hitchcock; Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema; Film Screening: Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960) Film Screening: Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) 4 Wuhan University
Class 8: Analysis Paper 1 Due Genre Film/Horror; Film Screening: Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) Class 9: Film Screening: Mission: Impossible (De Palma, 1996) [Series] Class 10: Midterm Exam Class 11: Film Screening: Memento (Nolan, 2000) Class 12: Quiz 4 Camera Effects discussion, illustration; Discussion of Scene Analysis; Film Screening: Unbreakable (Shyamalan, 2000) Class 13: Film Theory/Ideology Discussion; Acting Discussion; Film Screening: Side By Side (Kenneally, 2012) Mise-en-Scene; Gender in Hollywood Cinema Film Screening: Screen Blue Steel (Kathryn Bigelow, 1990) Class 14: Quiz 5 Cinematography Japanese Cinema Segments The Black Hair and Hoichi the Earless Film Screening: Screen Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964) Film Screening: Akira (Otomo, 1988) Class 15: 5 Wuhan University
Analysis Paper 2 Due The Long Take; Film Screening: The Passenger (Antonioni, 1975) Film Screening: Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990) Film Screening: The Protector (Pinkaew, 2005) Editing and Sound; Film Screening: Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965) Class 16: Quiz 6 The French New Wave; Film Screening: The Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925) Film Screening: At Land (Deren, 1944) Film Screening: A MOVIE (Conner, 1958) Film Screening: Breathless (Godard, 1959) Film Screening: Pierrot le fou (Godard, 1965) Class 17: Realism; Film Screening: Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1979) American Independent Film; New Hollywood and Independent Filmmaking; Film Screening: Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948) Class 18: Film Screening: Super Fly (Parks Jr., 1972) Documentary; Film Screening: La Soufrière (Werner Herzog, 1977) Class 19: Quiz 7 The New German Cinema; Film Screening: Lessons of Darkness (Herzog, 1992) Contemporary World Cinema; Film Screening: Screen Drug War (Johnnie To, 2012) Class 20: 6 Wuhan University
Hong Kong and Mainland China; Film Screening: The Killer (Woo, 1989) Film Screening: The Mission (To, 1999) Film Screening: Breaking News (To, 2004) Final Exam (Cumulative): TBA 7 Wuhan University